Roaming Rob: Hiking Gulf Hagas

The hiking trail, part of the 100-mile wilderness section of the Appalachian Trail, is located in the western mountains of the state just northwest of Brownville. Navigating the logging roads that lead to the trailhead proved to be a rough and muddy venture.”We’re here at the Gulf Hagas trailhead, which is part of the Appalachian Trail network, and also what is known as the Grand Canyon of Maine. At the trailhead site, we see some parking areas. It was very muddy to get here. We do see a trail map as well. It looks like we’ll be fording a stream, so this will be a difficult hike, as is also indicated on some of the trail information provided here, especially with the wet conditions. We will be taking our time.”According to the book New England Waterfalls by Greg Parsons and Kate Watson, Gulf Hagas is easily one of Maine’s finest day hikes.”Remember the stream I said we were going to ford at the beginning of the trailhead? Well, it looks like this is it. We’re just going to step right across this. It’s not too deep so it shouldn’t be too bad. And the trail continues just on the other side.””Not too bad” proved to be wrong. The water was deeper, colder, and flowing faster than it looked.”We’ve crossed our way across the deceptive stream. It felt like melted ice! The rocks were slimy. Definitely a treacherous cross but we’re still on our way to the falls here at Gulf Hagas.”We continued along the trail, which led further uphill before coming to a few more streams we would have to cross.”We just crossed another stream and now we’ve made it to this sign here, indicating where all the waterfalls are along the Gulf Hagas Rim Trail. Screw Auger Falls just a tenth of a mile in that direction.”The trail continued to meander along the stream, passing by many unnamed waterfalls before coming to this beauty: Screw Auger Falls.”We made the trek down a rocky slope to get down here to get a little bit better of a view of the waterfall Screw Auger Falls. Feeling a cold mist coming from this waterfall today, but just a breathtaking view.”At the waterfall, Gulf Hagas Brook rushes back and forth in a screw-like pattern before dropping 25 feet into a deep pool encircled by a bowl-shaped rock wall. A truly natural wonder, tucked back in this secluded gorge in the mountains of Maine.”Well, there you have it. Screw Auger Falls, a beautiful, hidden gem on the Appalachian Trail. To recap this trail: we had some difficult logging roads to navigate before even making it to the trailhead. Then, once we were on the trail, some rocky terrain. There were definitely some slippery rocks on the way that you had to take your time making your way across those. Then some when it came to fording some of those streams. No matter what way you look at it, even on a dry day weather-wise, you’re still going to get wet so a good idea to bring some extra pairs of shoes with you as you make your way on this hike.””Also, this is not the only waterfall on this Gulf Hagas trail. In fact, if we would have continued down, we would have seen several more. So you can really make this an entire day’s hike.””That’s it for now. I’m Roaming Rob. We’ll see you next week where we check out another one of Maine’s beautiful waterfalls.”